


Late Night

by enkidurga



Category: Kamen Rider - All Media Types, Kamen Rider Saber
Genre: Fluff, Gen, but they're such a slowburn, haha they got crushes, i intended for it to be soft, is this fluff?, no one else will cook the food
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:48:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27095320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/enkidurga/pseuds/enkidurga
Summary: Touma has a bit of writer's block the night before his manuscript's due date and looks to the Northern Base for inspiration.
Relationships: Daishinji Tetsuo/Kamiyama Touma, Kamiyama Touma/Daishinji Tetsuo
Comments: 5
Kudos: 17





	Late Night

**Author's Note:**

> Someone please write this ship, I need content.

Usually these things come to Touma instantly, like a flash. A feature film practically plays in his mind and immediately he has to pen every detail before it flutters away like scattered pages. However, tonight he didn’t have the luxury to rush to his desk and lay everything out, and by the time he was settled to work on the manuscript, he was left with nothing than an empty concept.

What a bust, the whole thing needed to be in Mei’s hands no later than tomorrow afternoon, and she had already been by the bookstore earlier that day to (rather eccentrically) warn him of the impending due date. Mei was a very busy young lady, after all. She had apparently already made plans to go out with her friends tomorrow night.

A frustrated sigh, Touma removes his hat and runs his hands through his hair, and then down his face before hunching over the nearly blank page in thought. A few words were scrawled down, but nothing entirely substantial. The opening lines recounting on a shy, but passionate swordsman and his journey had already taken him a couple of hours.

The click of his watch told him it was 2 AM, Mei would likely be at his door as soon as he opened for business if not earlier. He did give her a spare key.

Usually, Touma would flip through whatever books he had on hand. Something there would inevitably jog his memory or reinspire him, but he didn’t even have to retreat into the backroom to know nothing there would be able to help him.

Perhaps a trip through the book gate could help? No one would likely be around, but Touma wanted to almost get his hopes up. He could flip through whatever they had on hand there, maybe a leger or history of the Sword of Logos could work in getting him back into the groove.

And if he were lucky, the key inspiration for his little story would be there. That being Mr. Daishinji Tetsuo, of course. Even seeing him could perhaps hit him like a bolt of lightning, and get him back on track with his writing.

So Kamiyama Touma gathers up the pages of his not-manuscript and tucks them into a little folder. Still hopeful at the idea of seeing Tetsuo, grabs a box of sweets Mei had brought and half-finished. They would absolutely be stale by morning, so they’d be better as a late night snack for two.

Ready, he opens the door to the book gate and shuffles on through.

***~*~*~*~*~***

Propping open the door to the Northern Base and sliding on in, Touma is delighted to see Tetsuo seated at the center table. 

However, the mechanic definitely did not reciprocate, as his head picks up suddenly so he can eye the novelist in wild surprise. Clearly not expecting someone to come waltzing in, it’s like a panic switch was flipped in the man and he begins grabbing at everything he’s working on, mostly just Kento’s driver, and scrambling to flee.

“W-Wait! Daishinji, it’s okay, don’t…!” Touma says in a hurry, trying to catch Tetsuo before he vanishes, and it works. “You don’t have to get up, I didn’t expect anyone to be here.”

He’s still poised to leap from the chair, but Tetsuo tries to cover himself with the Swordriver, as if he has suddenly become invisible.

“It’s the middle of the night. What are you doing here?” he asks pointedly, but quiet.

“I could ask you the same thing, really.” Touma chuckles, setting the box of treats on the table, then his not-manuscript. “I’m a little stuck right now, so I was hoping to pick through some of the books here for reference. I had an idea for a little short work on a swordsman, but that’s all I really got going for me.”

The blade lowers, but Tetsuo is looking away.

“There likely won’t be anything here to really help you.” He says, which is already a lie in Touma’s mind, but he can tell from the way the mechanic gazes towards a bookshelf on the lower level that there is definitely something helpful in the room. Of course, Tetsuo’s gaze redirects to the not-manuscript on the table. “And I was running some maintenance, your blade is due for a check up soon too.”

There is a smirk playing across Touma’s lips as nods.

“Uh huh… I’ll bring my sword by tomorrow, but… are you sure there aren’t any good books I could look at? No records of heroic deeds or legendary escapades?” he asks, knowing this trick all too well.

“Of course not!” Tetsuo replies sharply, be he falls into the trap as he looks back towards the shelf. He’s a terrible liar, a trait of his that Touma has already filed away as “cute”.

This time, Touma follows the line of vision before it snaps back towards him and smiles. 

Fortunately, whatever book he was jumping for wasn’t anything close to being considered “forbidden literature” like last time, so when Touma dives towards the bookcase, he’s a little disappointed to not find the shier man fumbling after to stop him.

From the shelf, the novelist pulls a rather thick anthology of stories. It seems to be legends of previous riders, previous members of the Swords of Logos and their stories, or at the very least their greatest triumphs. It’s obviously history to some extent, but Touma still finds it feeling oddly fictitious.

“Okay, yeah, there is.” Is all Tetsuo mutters quietly before curling himself back over his work. 

Touma laughs softly and starts to flip through the tome.

“Hmm, this is actually going to be really helpful. It’s perfect…” He muses aloud, picking an éclair from the box as he skims over a cluster of tales recounting a pink-clad swordsman. “By the way, you can have some if you want. It’d be a waste to throw them out.”

Touma is pushing the box over towards Tetsuo, but he doesn’t respond to the offer. His ears are tinged a slight pink and he’s a little more concerned with keeping his hands from fidgeting too much as he works on Raimeiken Ikazuchi. There would be nothing more embarrassing than electrocuting yourself on a holy thunder sword while having company around.

Especially because the mechanic has always found Touma quite cute. Enough to be a distraction, and the little laughs, the box of treats, even the way he somehow makes each page turn reflect his excitement… Testuo can’t think of anything better to describe it. It’s cute!

It’s a crush, and it’s very obvious to Tetsuo what it is, thankfully Touma doesn’t seem to pick up on it despite somehow being perfectly capable of translating his body language. The mechanic would sooner die from embarrassment than reveal that about himself. So he maintains his silence, and so does Touma, until they’re both fully consumed by their work to quite think about the other.

***~*~*~*~*~***

The clock was already striking 5 AM when Tetsuo finally stood and set the Swordriver to the side, ready to retire for at least a couple hours worth of naptime before likely trounces through.

In the midst of a long stretch, he remembers he’s not along and jumps back a bit, eyes wide as he makes heavy eye contact with Touma, who is smiling at him, chin resting his hands from the other side of the table. The manuscript seemed already complete and neatly gather into the folder, and the book from earlier was already back on the shelf.

“Y-You finished?” Tetsuo breathes out, looking away.

“Oh, yeah, not that long ago, but maybe a half hour?” Touma replies, “Once I get going, I can write it pretty quick, but that book really helped. So thanks!”

“Yeah…” then Tetsuo blinks. “Why are you still here?”

It’s a curious expression that rolls across Touma’s face, but he shrugs and then points at the treats that had largely been untouched all night.

“We still have some left, I at least wanted to wait until you were finished to share a snack together before heading out.” 

He says it so innocently, and it has Tetsuo blushing in a way that’s hard to cover. Dropping down into his seat, the shier man is reaching for the Swordriver to conceal itself, but it’s pulled away from his reach and replaced simply with a cherry danish.

“Come on, just eat.” Touma laughs as the mechanic eyes the pastry like it’s about to bite him. 

But he takes it anyways into his hands and takes a hesitant bite out of it. Pieces of pastry flake away from where he’s bitten into it, getting all over his apron, and he can’t help but feel like he’s making a mess of himself in front of the other. Touma fishes a cheese danish out of the box, the last thing that was in there and picks at it himself.

“You didn’t have to do this.” Tetsuo finally speaks up after what seems like an eternity of them chewing in silence.

“No, I guess I didn’t.” the novelist agrees, but shakes his head, “But I wanted to. To be honest, I hung around and waited just because I wanted to spend some time with you, Daishinji.”

Cherry filling threatens to decorate Tetsuo’s face in that moment as he flips the pastry upwards to conceal himself once more, which has Touma gasping and preparing to rocket over the table to stop him. 

Of course, he’s too late and the treat hit the mechanic square in the nose, leaving a notable smear of jelly across it once he pulls it away.

“Ah, sorry sorry! That must have sounded weird! I get it!” Touma is babbling out in a panic as he pulls out a handkerchief from his back pocket and scurries around the table to wipe at the other’s nose.  
Stray bits of crumb had even managed to cling to the stray bits of hair that hung around Tetsuo’s face.

There is no way to explain how flustered or frozen Tetsuo is as he’s being cleaned up, but Touma seems apologetic at the very least. After some time, he’s grabbing at Touma’s hands and trying to push them away.

“I’m fine, I think you got it.” He says, gaze drifting to the side, but the smile he cracks is unmistakable. “Thanks.”

Something flutters in Touma’s chest at the expression and he wipes his own hands into the handkerchief while committing the vision to memory. He’s biting his tongue to keep from whispering something  
along the lines of “cute” under his breath, Tetsuo would without a doubt hear it.

Instead, he picks up the rest of his treat and shoves it into his mouth before grabbing his manuscript. 

“Well, I should get going. It’s crazy late and I really should get this set out for Mei to grab when she comes by in the morning.” Touma says with a higher, uncertain tone, before it drops into something more hushed. “I do really like being around you, I hope it’s okay if I come here to write again.”

“Yeah…” Tetsuo says with a nod. “But bring your sword next time, it’ll save you a trip.”

“It’s not that much of a trip!” the novelist waves off, “But you should come by too, I… would like you to read this manuscript when it gets published.”

Not much else to say after that, Touma’s gone through the gate after one final “goodnight”, leaving Tetsuo with his thoughts. 

Maybe he should come through to visit Touma, if his nerves will let him. He has to repay him for the company and the pastries, after all.


End file.
